


Wedding

by lunarsilverwolfstar



Series: August 2016 Prompts [18]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-03
Updated: 2017-01-03
Packaged: 2018-09-14 11:07:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9178849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunarsilverwolfstar/pseuds/lunarsilverwolfstar
Summary: Some things are just meant to be.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Day 16.
> 
> Prompted by End. <3<3

“Look girlie, there’s been no mistake. You are the official receiver of both the valedictorian and salutatorian scholarships.”  


Rose stared at the phone in disbelief. “But how is that possible? I wasn’t the valedictorian!”  


The woman on the other end sighed in exasperation, but her answer was hesitant, “I’m not supposed to be telling you this, but apparently the valedictorian in your school turned it down. That’s never happened as long as the foundation’s been established. He requested we give it to the salutatorian, going on a spin about how there was an error in the school system and how they, you, were deserving of it. We offered the salutatorian scholarship, but he also rejected it. The heads got together and decided to grant both to you.”

Rose’s heart started working double time. Why would he...? Then she thought of something. “What would happen if I turned down the salutatorian scholarship? Would next year’s be able to get a full-ride as well instead of just part?”  


Another noise of frustration was heard. “Kids these days just love throwing money away, don’t they?”

“I just...I only need enough to cover my classes and books, which the V scholarship does. If the other could help someone else in any way...”  


This time a softer sigh. “I have to admit, that school of yours must breed you lot well. I’ll send an e-mail to the president and you’ll be contacted shortly.”

“Thank you for your time, Ms. Noble.” With that, she hung up and went back to staring at the checks. When she received them and the letter, she knew there must be a mistake. She hadn’t made it to valedictorian, therefore, she hadn’t won the full-ride scholarship. Resignedly, she’d been about to e-mail the university she’d been accepted to asking for a delay in her entrance date. She would still have gone, no doubt about it, but the salutatorian scholarship only took care of half the expenses. By her calculations, it should only take her about ten months of working full-time to save up enough money to cover an extra year, then she could switch to part-time hours while in school to save for her final year.

Then she received the news that the V scholarship would go to _her_  and not James McCrimmon, the actual valedictorian of their school.

Rose and James had been in competition with each other since the beginning. While she had had to work and study hard to maintain her grades, it was easy for the nerdy James. Rose had isolated herself from most social events, only keeping a close group of tight-knit friends while James seemed to thrive off of having several people around him. He wasn’t perfect, having a loud, obnoxious voice with his know-it-all attitude, and he wasn’t very athletic, though he could beat most of their class in track. They hadn’t gotten along very well, to say the least, never mind that they were both aiming for the valedictorian title and award that came hand in hand with it.

Then they ended up working together. As valedictorian and salutatorian of their school, they were asked to represent, which meant interviews, speeches, community service, and _playing nice_. What started off as grudging respect for one another, turned into sincere admiration, and maybe a little more on Rose’s side.

James was hard to read. He was always smiling and energetic, but when he thought no one was looking, a dark cloud hung over him. She’d found out he lived with his aunt, Sarah Jane Smith one day, but never had the guts to ask what happened to his parents. She did share that she had lost her dad when she was just a baby and it was then that Rose realised as much as James talked, he never _said_  anything. Well, it was time to change that.

\------

“Congrats, Mickey!” exclaimed his best friend, hugging him tight. “I can’t believe you of all people were the first to get hitched.”  


“I can’t believe it either,” he joked. “Let’s be honest, I don’t deserve her, but I will do my best to make her happy.”  


"I definitely wouldn’t have pictured you married to our childhood friend two years after she graduated. I could have sworn she would’ve gone to med school first, met some fit doctor and left you in the dust,” she continued to tease.  


“What can I say? I’m just that good.” He winked, turning to plant a kiss on his wife’s cheek when she approached, looping her arm in his.  


“Now, Rose, quit taking the mickey out of my husband,” Martha warned, “Else the guy _you_  marry will know about that time with the doll-”  


“ _Okay_. Congratulations again, Mick, Martha! I think I see the nibbles over there.” Heading to the tables filled with finger-food, she noticed a familiar head of spiky brown hair. “I shoulda known I’d find you here.” She felt her tongue slip between her teeth and she tried to remind herself that she was over her silly crush.

“Rose Tyler!” the one and only James McCrimmon exclaimed.  


She let out a startled squeal when he wrapped his arms around her, lifted her feet off the ground, and spun her once before letting her down. Her heart threatened to burst right out of her chest. Taking a deep breath, she resolved to not let him get to her. “You, mister,” she poked his chest, ignoring the fluttering in her chest, “never answered any of my texts, calls, or e-mails. If I didn’t know, I’d say you were avoiding me.” She crossed her arms after a few more pokes.

“For two years? Never, Rose.” He shook his head, rubbing the back of his head. “I meant to write back, but...well, one thing would come up, then another. I never got any calls or texts, but that might be because I changed my number.” He smiled sheepishly.  


“I didn’t even think of that. I should have asked Martha or something.” She inhaled deeply. “So. You know what I want to ask. Why?”  


“Why did I give up the scholarship?” His shoulders, previously hunched, straightened.  


“Been waiting close to two years for an answer.” Raising a brow when he didn’t say anything, she continued to prod. “Well?”  


“I...” James blew out a breath. “What do you want me to say, Rose? That you deserved that scholarship way more than I did? You worked so hard for it while I took every class as a joke, passing because I could, because for some reasons these things come easy for me. ‘Gifted,’ they say, but what does it really matter if those who work just as hard aren’t recognized too.”  


“But I was recognized! I was salutatorian! I didn’t need your, your...” She growled in frustration.  


“My what?” he asked, head cocking forward.  


“Your pity! I could have earned the rest of the money on my own!”  


“There it is. That’s what you’ve been dying to tell me this whole time, isn’t it?” When she didn’t say anything, he continued, “This is why I left as soon as I could. I know you could have taken a year off, worked extra, but that wasn’t the point! I couldn’t go to school with ease knowing you were out there, working in a a shop.”  


“There’s nothing wrong with working in a shop!”  


“I never said there was! But you, Rose Tyler, you deserve so much more than that and that’s why I gave up the scholarship, because I...”

“You what?” she asked, her voice lowering as she looked at him curiously. However, instead of seeing hesitance and maybe a bit of embarrassment, all she saw was utter mortification as he stared over her shoulder. Slowly turning, she realised everyone in attendance to the wedding was staring at them. Some people were blatantly gawking, others were smiling, some were annoyed, and more still were trying to hold their laughter, including the bride and groom. “Oh my god!” She slapped a hand to her face, turning back to peek at James between her fingers.

“What say we run and finish this conversation somewhere else?” he asked, his chest stilling as he awaited for her answer.  


She didn’t leave him waiting long as she nodded almost immediately and emphasised, “Run!” He grabbed her hand and with that, they were off, ready to figure things out, one step at a time, side-by-side, or on opposing ends when in competition, but still _together_.


End file.
